


tierra del sol

by TAKIPSlLIM



Category: Thai Actor RPF, จูบให้ได้ถ้านายแน่จริง เร็วๆนี้ | Kiss Me Again: The Series (TV), จูบให้ได้ถ้านายแน่จริง เร็วๆนี้ | Kiss Me Again: The Series (TV) RPF, รักไม่ระบุสถานะ | Dark Blue Kiss (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Reunions, Inspired by Crazy Rich Asians, M/M, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25083706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TAKIPSlLIM/pseuds/TAKIPSlLIM
Summary: a trip to tay’s childhood home and an invite to tay’s best friend’s highly-anticipated balesin wedding open new’s eyes to the reality that he and tay are worlds apart.
Relationships: New Thitipoom Techaapaikhun/Tay Tawan Vihokratana
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	tierra del sol

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is set in the philippines. 
> 
> it will be written in english, but there will be some filipino dialogue.
> 
> edit: fic is on-hold until further notice!

New should have known. Or at the very least, he should have been more suspicious. The signs were all there, all he had to do was connect the dots. 

When they arrived at the Philippine Airlines counter at JFK, one of the older ground staff greeted his boyfriend with a kind of familiarity that you would only give to a someone important. On top of that, without his knowledge, Tay had booked them both business class tickets that probably would have cost a fortune, considering the flight was fully booked. 

The things new never really cared for, the little things about his boyfriend that his uncle and cousins have always been curious about suddenly make sense. That one time his cousin Frank gushed over the shoes Tay was wearing when they both visited his family's apartment a month ago. And Tay smiling it off, leading the conversation to something else. And that one time Ciize noticed the watch Tay always wears, one from an obscure luxury brand, a vintage piece that came from his grandfather. All of those little things, things he simply overlooked. 

But just from the way Tay carried himself, he was different. He exuded the a kind of aura that was different from everyone New has ever come across with. 

His uncle always asked him about Tay, random things like where he came from before he came to the states or what did his parents do. And all new could say was that Tay's parents lived in Ayala Heights, that they owned a food business, and that Tay spent most of his childhood with his grandparents in the province before relocating permanently in his parents' house in Quezon City, so he can study in Ateneo. That Tay graduated from the London School of Economics with honors, before deciding to relocate to New York to teach at NYU where they met through colleagues.

So yes, he could tell just from what he knew that Tay's family was loaded, but he never really paid attention to any of it. Because it didn't matter, not at all. Because Tay was the kind of person that never really flaunted, was never fussy. When new craved for the burgers from their favorite food truck at Sunset Park, Tay happily indulged him. Their favorite restaurant was that non-descript place in Chinatown that had the best xiao long bao in the entire west coast. 

So when Tay invited him to come home to the Philippines for his best friend's "wedding", while he initially had his worries, he relented. Two weeks in the Philippines won't hurt. He'd miss the blooms in Central Park, but it'd be a waste to miss an opportunity to visit the country he used to call home.

"Tay? Akala ko we're staying at your parents?" he asks his boyfriend, who's standing beside him, looking like he hadn't had wink of sleep the past 48 hours.

"Ah, we were! But they didn't tell me they left early. Papunta na sila ng province now, and I don't want to stay at home if they aren't there naman." Tay replies, mixing his English and Filipino, sounding every bit like conyo Atenista that he is. 

"Oh, so where are we staying?" he asks, slightly surprised by the sudden change in plans. 

Supposedly, before the wedding activities next week, which included a pseudo-bachelor party, they were going to stay in Tay's parents' house in Quezon city for a few days before the long drive to his grandparents' place.

The wedding they're attending in a week isn't exactly a wedding, not when the couple has been married for almost have a year. New remembers meeting the couple briefly in New York for lunch, after the two suddenly showed up and almost gave Tay a heart attack when they showed their matching wedding bands, announcing they got married in Las Vegas. After all, they won't be able to do so back home.

"We’ll stay at a hotel for now, two nights lang." 

New nods, his brain a bit too slow function at two in the afternoon, Manila time. When in New York, it's two in the morning, and he'd be in soundly asleep at this very moment. 

They just breezed through immigrations, another red flag. They were escorted by an official as soon as the plane doors opened. And at this point, he shouldn't be surprised. But Tay just walks past the baggage carousel.

"Tay! Yung gamit?" he asks, refusing to believe the only possible explanation that his mind are coming up with that isn't the possibility that Tay literally forgot they have to wait for their bags.

But his boyfriend just smiles, scratching the back of his neck before pointing across the hall, near the exit that would lead them to the arrival gates. 

New's jaw drops, almost comically, because there stood a ground staff waiting by a cart that contained their luggage.

* * *

"Tay, oh my god. There's something you're not telling me, anak ka ba ng presidente?" 

Tay knows new has been holding in this question since the entire luggage fiasco at the airport, and Tay can't blame him really. But he could only thank his best friend for the kind of treatment they experienced at the airport. 

"Babe naman, you've met my mom in New York." he replies, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's waist. It's the first time they're cuddling in almost twenty hours, and Tay needs to recharge. 

"i know, but what the fuck was that? And this?" new says, referring to the room they're currently in, the Imperial Residence at Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

Tay doesn't know how he'd explain things in ways that won't leave new shell-shocked, so he just hugs him tighter, resting his chin on his shoulder. 

"Teodoro Emilio…" 

The use of his entire first name means new needs his answers, and he needs them now. But where should he start? How can he begin to explain the things he's always been told to hold secret? 

His parents let him live his life as he wishes with the condition that he'd lay low while he was away. No funny business. That was it. That was the only condition. However, one mistake and he'd be shipped back to the Philippines on a private jet commissioned by his grandmother. 

But he's glad that unlike his cousins and some of his high school friends, he wasn't tiger-parented into perfection. But that didn't mean there weren't other influential voices in his life, it's just that his parents were more accepting of him. 

They didn't freak out when he came out as bisexual when he was sixteen. Sure, it took his parents quite some time to process the idea. But they didn't spurn him for it.

But everything is complicated. Very much so, that he can't really find the words to explain to new the kind of life he's lived before London and New York. 

"Babe… can you trust me? It's hard to explain with words eh, but you'll understand pag dating natin sa isang araw."

* * *

Against his better judgement, New held in all the questions bouncing off his brain. He trusts Tay. He always has, and in the two years they've been together, Tay has done nothing that warrants any kind of doubt.

That and soon as those words tumbled out of his mouth, the bastard that is his boyfriend immediately started planting kisses on his shoulder, that progressed to open-mouthed kisses strategically placed on the sensitive parts of his neck. And the conversation was thrown out the window and forgotten for the weekend. 

And New isn't going to lie. Every single moment they've spent defiling all the surfaces of that room that was bigger more than ten times bigger than his family's rented apartment in the Bronx felt exhilarating. 

Both of them have been busy with work. On top of his regular teaching load, New has been part of a team of researchers commissioned by their department to work with a Silicon Valley company to work on some new tech. And Tay's been flying back and forth between London and New York, because his alma mater is negotiating to have him as a visiting professor next semester. 

Which meant they barely had the time for each other, and this past two nights have been blissful to say the least. 

But now, New can feel his heart beating in his chest, it's pace faster than it normally is. He's not quite sure why he's so nervous, because he's met Tay's mother in New York last year while she was on a business trip. And she was nothing but a sweetheart, asking him new about work, about his degree. And she even told him if he had ever considered coming back to the Philippines and working in the semi-conductor manufacturing industry, she had a friend who she could refer him to. 

But New knows the anxiety building up in his chest is simply because he's aware that it wasn't Tay's mother that he had to impress. It's his grandmother. 

And according to the GPS on Tay's jet black Range Rover, they're ten minutes away her house, the place where Tay spent most of his early years. 

Tay probably notices the faraway look in his eyes, because he feels Tay reach for his hand from across the dashboard. 

"Babe… don't be nervous. It's just my family. They'll love you."

New wants to believe it would be that easy, but what if Tay's wrong? What if they don't? 

There are so many scenarios playing out in his mind, but his train of thought breaks as soon as he sees the arc -- the arc that signals their entry to the province of Tierra del Sol. And New is greeted by a scenery that was well-beyond his imagination.

Tay had mentioned that he grew up in a town that was near the beach. But new didn't realize that he meant that the road the led to the heart of the province itself was by the beach. And all new could see for miles was sand and the countless stalls and villas that lined the other side of the road. 

"Wow…" New couldn't help but sigh, completely enamored by the beauty of the sight before him.

He's been to almost every beach in Miami, and nothing could compare to this sight. 

From his periphery, he can see the wide smile on Tay's face. And that smile tramples on all his doubts, because it doesn't matter if Tay's family doesn't like him. As long as Tay is there beside him, nothing else matters. 

* * *

Tay takes in the beautiful view right before him. No, not the sprawling beaches that have become a hot tourist destination since the last time he was in town. No, not that view. 

It's the relaxed smile that finally makes its way onto New’s face. One Tay hasn't seen since they arrived at JFK for their flight to the Philippines a couple of days ago. There isn't much he can say to ease the tension, because who was he kidding? He remembers feeling the same way when New’s uncle invited them over for thanksgiving, with New’s mother finally visiting New York for the first time since she left her son in the States. 

Because not only was he meeting New’s mother for the first time, it was also the first time his boyfriend's mother was learning about him. 

It's been a year since then, and Tay still remembers the look Mina, New’s mother, had on her face. It was a mix of shock and disappointment, that she would later explain as disappointment that New never told her about Tay. 

He knows New has always been worried about making a good impression, and the fact that Tay hadn't really told him about his life in the Philippines isn't helping at all. 

"The view is beautiful, no?" he says, his eyes on the road and his right hand squeezing New’s reassuringly. 

New nods, the content smile still on his face. 

And Tay wonders if his best friend was right, should he have prepared new better? But what would he say? He's never really felt the need to tell anyone about his life in Philippines, not when the life he lived there wasn't really his. Everything he had was from his family's money and influence. And more than anything, London and New York have felt more like home the past few years. 

At the fork by the main road, he takes the leftmost one, turning right on a private road that would lead them to their destination. 

He chews his lip nervously, because soon, New would finally understand, once he gets a taste of the world Tay grew up in. A world he realizes now, New might not be prepared for.

**Author's Note:**

> notes: 
> 
> \- tierra del sol is a fictional province, but i used a lot of local influences, especially la union  
> \- balesin is an island in the philippines that houses balesin island club, a luxury resort


End file.
